Ben Blake resigns as head baseball coach

Ben Blake resigns as head baseball coach

by Hunter Hillygus, Sports Editor

After 10 seasons at the helm, Ben Blake has resigned as head baseball coach of the Simpson Storm. 

Blake compiled an overall record of 194-222 during his tenure, good for second on Simpson’s all-time wins list and a 115-136 record in the Iowa Conference.

His teams reached the 20-win plateau four times and clinched a spot in the conference tournament in nine of his 10 seasons.

Blake won his 100th game April 9, 2011, against Wartburg, becoming just the third coach in the program’s history to reach the milestone.

Blake coached seven all-region performers and 27 all-conference players in his time at Simpson.

In his last season, the Indianola native coached the Storm to a 14-29 (10-18 IIAC) record, while clinching a spot in the conference tournament with a walk-off win over nationally ranked Buena Vista on the last weekend of the regular season.

The Storm went 1-2 in this season’s conference tournament, falling to Luther 12-10 in their first game. Facing elimination, they defeated Dubuque 10-6 before being eliminated by Buena Vista 6-0 in what would ultimately be Blake’s last game.